Various devices have been proposed in the past for protectively covering the circular saw blade of table-type saws. Saws of this type typically comprise a flat, tablelike surface for supporting a workpiece and a slot in the table through which a portion of a circular saw blade extends. The saw blade is mounted on a motor driven arbor below the table which is in turn pivotally mounted so as to allow tilting of the blade relative to the upper table surface.
One type of known prior art blade guard is mounted on top of the table and includes a housing covering the upper portion of the blade and extending above the thickness of the workpiece. This type of blade guard possesses a number of disadvantages. For example, a portion of the blade at the front and rear of the guard immediately above the table surface is exposed both before and after the cut, thus presenting a risk of injury to the operator. Also, these guards limit the movement of the rip fence toward the blade, thereby limiting the use of the saw with these workpieces.
Prior art blade guards of the type described above may also interfere with efficient workpieces feed because of the various brackets and mounting mechanisms which are disposed on top of the table. In some cases, the blade guard housing is rather wide and bulky and can present a visual obstruction at the leading edge of the blade which interferes with the operator's view of the alignment between the blade and the workpiece.
Still another problem of prior art blade guards is that of alignment between the blade guard and the blade. Blade/guard alignment is sometimes inadvertently altered when it is necessary to adjust the guard relative to the blade due to the nature of the mounting brackets involved. Since the prior art guards employ mounting brackets that extend above the table top and limit the movement of workpieces through the blade operators often disable the guards to achieve freedom of use of the saw, thereby creating a safety hazard.
In view of the foregoing, there is a clear need in the art for a saw blade guard especially for table saws which overcomes each of the deficiencies discussed above.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a saw blade guard which is relatively simple in construction and does not require adjustment or manipulation by the operator to accommodate workpieces of varying thicknesses.
Another object is to provide a saw blade guard which does not in any way restrict the use of the saw to make all normal cuts and does not require any extra manipulation by the operator in order to achieve these cuts.
Another object of the invention is to provide a saw blade guard as described above particularly suited for a table saw which is mounted below the table and covers the entire periphery of the blade exposed above the table.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a saw blade guard as described above which normally covers the blade, but is automatically shifted in response to engagement therewith by a workpiece to expose the leading edge of the blade to the workpiece while covering the trailing edge of the blade at all times, thus freeing both the operator's hands for feeding the workpiece.
Another object of the invention is to provide a saw blade guard as discussed above which remains in alignment with the blade at all times, even when the blade is tilted relative to the table.
These, and further objects of the invention will be made clear or become apparent during the course of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.